NCAA suspends new recruiting rules

Well, that didn’t take long. You give some people an inch and they take a mile, so the NCAA Division I Board of Directors decided Thursday to suspend the new rule that would have allowed football coaches to send unlimited text messages and have unlimited contact with recruits.

Since the new rule passed January, the NCAA has received over 75 requests to have it overridden, reports CBS Sports.

The Division I Board of Directors will reconsider at its May 2 meeting legislation that eliminated the rule banning certain modes of communication (text messaging) and eliminating numerical limits on phone calls. The review will occur because the required number of schools – 75 – has requested an override of the rule.

The Board also will reconsider a new rule prohibiting coaches from scouting future opponents in person. The rule continues to allow coaches to scout upcoming opponents if they are participating in the same tournament or doubleheader event at the same site.

The request to reconsider the recruiting communication rule was not unexpected, as the Board met earlier this week and suspended two other rules related to recruiting – one deregulating who can perform recruiting tasks and the other lifting restrictions on what recruiting materials can be sent to prospects. At that time, Board members agreed to let the membership decide the future of the recruiting communication rule adopted in January.

Starting on June 15, schools were allowed again to send as many text messages as they wanted to prospective recruits. Eventual UK signee Darkari Johnson reported being barraged by text messages from coaches just after midnight when the new rule went into affect.